Democratic leader calls SC’s Nikki Haley a ‘MAGA minion.’ Her response? ‘Bless his heart.’
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said she’ll pray for Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison after he called her a “MAGA minion.”
Haley, appearing on Comedy Central’s ”The Daily Show” Wednesday with guest host and fellow South Carolinian Charlamagne tha God, was asked about Harrison’s comments, which he made Monday when Haley filed to run in the South Carolina Republican Presidential primary.
“I — like so many other South Carolinians — remember her for what she was: a dangerous, out of touch MAGA extremist governor who was a complete disaster for our state,” Harrison posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Haley responded with a traditional Southern backhanded slap.
“Bless his heart. What I’ll do is I’ll pray for him,” Haley said on Wednesday night’s show. “And when you say, ‘Bless your heart,’ it’s a nice way of kicking with a smile.”
Haley is the second South Carolina politician to appear on “The Daily Show” this week. U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Isle of Palms, was Charlamagne’s guest on Monday.
During Haley’s interview, she was asked about signing legislation to bring down the Confederate battle flag from the S.C. State House grounds after a Charleston shooting killed nine Black churchgoers, and how much credit she takes.
“I don’t think we should ever talk about credit because I think the point I tried to do was I tried not to judge either side, and I tried to get them to see the best of themselves and go forward. I think if you’re going to give credit, give to the people of South Carolina,” Haley said. “They could have stopped this.”
Haley also promised not to rap like fellow Republican White House hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy did while at the Iowa State Fair, when he sang Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.”
“I loved Eminem and that song before then, and Ramaswamy just ruined that for me,” Haley said. “He ruined it. No, I will never rap. You don’t want me to rap. I’ve always said if you see me doing karaoke, you better take me home because something’s really wrong.”
Haley is in second place among Republican candidates in South Carolina according to several public opinion polls, trailing clear front-runner former President Donald Trump.
A recent CNN poll has Haley in second place with 22%, with Trump leading with 53% in South Carolina, which holds its GOP primary on Feb. 24. Speaking with Charlamagne, Haley remained confident she’ll end up being the sole alternative to the former president.
“The numbers in South Carolina are assuming you have other people in the race. I think by the time we get to South Carolina we’re going to be head-to-head, and I think it’s going to be a different story,” Haley said.
Before the voting starts in states with early contests, several Republican candidates are set to meet in a third debate, scheduled for Nov. 8 in Miami.
Charlemagne asked whether Haley’s heels will be higher than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who in recent weeks has been asked if he’s wearing lifts.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to figure that out,” Haley said with a laugh. “I’ve always talked about my high heels, I’ve never hid that from anybody. I’ve always said, ‘don’t wear them if you can’t run in them.’ We’ll see if he can run in them.”
This story was originally published November 2, 2023 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Democratic leader calls SC’s Nikki Haley a ‘MAGA minion.’ Her response? ‘Bless his heart.’."
